Catch and Shoot: The Influence of Advergame Mechanics on Preference Formation

The use of advergames for the purpose of brand and product promotion is growing in popularity as the mobile gaming industry expands. The extant research on advergames, however, has focused primarily on factors influencing the effectiveness of in-game advertising (e.g., banner and pop-up ads appearing beside gameplay). Therefore, this research seeks to examine the impact of branded content integrated directly into the mechanics of a game. Across two studies, the influence of common game mechanics (e.g., shooting, collecting, avoiding) on affective and attentional processes are investigated by manipulating the design elements of a custom advergame. The results suggest that advergame mechanics can influence subsequent choices through perceptual fluency and affective transfer. Additionally, perceived difficulty was found to moderate the relationship between affective response and choice. (C) 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.